Assimilation, The Namesake, "Brave We Are" and "Two Kinds"

Vice Article about Immigrant Experience in America

http://www.vice.com/read/immigrants-explain-what-shocked-them-about-american-culture

An Article about saying no to assimilation:
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/29/us/a-fervent-no-to-assimilation-in-new-america.html

More on assimilation:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/education/edlife/international-students-find-the-american-dream-in-flint.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=http://m.facebook.com&_r=0

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/on-assimilationists-and-nativists/

Article about choosing names for children born in America to new Americans:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/for-muslim-americans-baby-aidan-or-baby-muhammad.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=http://m.facebook.com&_r=0

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/education/edlife/international-students-find-the-american-dream-in-flint.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=http://m.facebook.com&_r=0

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/the-great-assimilation-debate/

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/opinion/sunday/douthat-when-the-assimilation-of-immigrants-stalls.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/07/garden/l-benefits-of-assimilation-229202.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=all

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/right-there-in-black-and-white-identity-assimilation-and-the-resume/?_r=0

Clink on this link for articles about food and culture:

https://www.google.com/#q=cultural+importance+of+food

These links would help with the issues in "Two Kinds" also:

Here is a link that talks about assimilation into American/other cultures.

http://m.nydailynews.com/life-style/children-tiger-moms-european-american-moms-differ-article-1.1798300

http://www.asian-nation.org/assimilation.shtml

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2673184?uid=3739808&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104040633247

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/edu/89/3/433/

http://jbd.sagepub.com/content/29/6/505.short

Interview with Amy Tan (author of "Two Kinds")

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/travel/amy-tans-evolving-sense-of-china.html?hpw&rref=travel&_r=0&referrer=

Here is a link to the PBS website that discusses “New Americans”:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/

Here is a link that is specific to people living in new Jersey:

http://www.newamericansnj.org/

Http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/meltingpot/melt0525a.htm

Here is an article entitled: “Why They Won’t Assimilate”:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/05/why_they_wont_assimilate.html

.

President Obama’s speech about in which he discusses the American dream and what it means to us today.

http://raleightelegram.com/20120125624

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/15immig.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/assimilation-and-nativism-cont/

http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/peers_social_general/Varela_etal_2004.pdf

The psychological definition:

http://psychology.about.com/od/aindex/g/assimilation.htmL

NY Times Article on the American Dream:

https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000004655947"></iframe>


 

"Mrs. Turner's Lawn Jockeys" "Sonny's Blues" and Identity

We will discuss identity and how we become who we are in "Mrs. Turner's Lawn Jockeys"and Stand By Me.  We will see different characters and explore how they constructed their identity. Setting also plays a major role in these stories. We will look at how that effects these characters as well.

This link below has a wide variety of articles on how we construct identity.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/identity

Identity and choice:

http://gawker.com/how-i-identify-is-not-your-choice-1741671073

History of Lawn Jockeys

http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/underground-railroad-jockey-statues.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600851.html

http://wavy.com/2014/05/23/black-faced-lawn-jockey-creates-controversy-among-neighbors/

Black face

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/13/arts/music/blackface-master-echoes-in-hiphop.html

http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/huckfinn/minstrl.html

http://globalgrind.com/2013/10/30/reason-why-its-not-ok-to-wear-blackface-list-photos/

Link about identity and where you are from:

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2015/10/what-youre-really-asking-when-you-ask-where-are-you-from/411688/
 Outside sources for Baldwin:

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap10/baldwin.html

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin.html?scp=3&sq=james%20baldwin&st=cse

Baldwin sources:
http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Baldwin.htm

History of Harlemhttp://www.harlemheritage.com/history-of-harlem/

http://www.biography.com/tv/classroom/harlem-renaissance

http://www.history.com/topics/harlem-renaissance

Below is the Bible scripture that Baldwin refers to:
“The cup of trembling”
22
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
23
But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over

1)    At one point the narrator says that Sonny was playing “playing for his life”; what does this quotation mean to you? Explain

2)   Can you find a place in the story where Baldwin makes use of the images of darkness and light? Explain the use of light and darkness

3)   Reread the exchange between the narrator and Sonny's friend. How would you characterize the narrator's behavior and feelings towards Sonny's friend? Is the narrator kind, cruel, compassionate, abrupt, empathic, angry? Explain your view and the evidence supporting it. Why does the narrator react the way he does?

4)   Critics have said that “Sonny’s Blues” is a story about hope but that hope is tempered by knowledge of terrible dangers. Explain what you think that means.